The Raiders, A’s and Warriors in Oakland limbo: For now, it’s all going nowhere, literally, in triplicate

The Raiders are not close to a stadium deal in Oakland and they’re getting antsier every day, though some things do help lift the spirits.

Such as: News that there are movements to try to lure the Raiders to Portland and Oklahoma City.

“Good to know people want us, right?” Raiders owner Mark Davis said with a chuckle during a phone interview Friday.

Davis quickly added that he first and foremost wants a new stadium on the Coliseum site and that he is not starting talks with other cities.

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“No, no, no, no, no–really, I’m working on this Oakland thing,” Davis said. “Then if this doesn’t happen, I’ve got to think about Plan B. Plan A is Oakland.”

But generally, Davis’ frustrations in some ways mirror the feelings of the Warriors owners, who aren’t close to their announced new arena in San Francisco, which is mired in bureaucratic muck and might just be impossible to pull off.

And you can naturally add in the A’s owners, who are not at all close to their San Jose dreams.
All three franchises are currently playing at the outdated Coliseum complex; all three are aiming for something new; and all three are in varying stages limbo and distress.

And maybe most frustratingly of all, each team in some way is tied to the other: Should Oakland’s massive Coliseum City project/pie-in-the-sky idea be scaled to fit buildings for all three teams, two teams, or just one team, and what are the deadlines and financial parameters for each of those decisions?

Who knows.

“It’s all moving, but it’s not moving real fast,” Davis said, “and I don’t know whether it’s moving fully in the right direction.”

Davis said he had lunch with Oakland mayor Jean Quan last week and said she suggested they could have a Coliseum City deal framework by the summer.
But Davis noted that Quan’s previously had pointed to a deal by the end of last season, “and that came and went,” Davis said dryly.

Let’s take a spin through all three situations, as they stand right now…

* Davis is the only Oakland owner who is clear and pronounced about his desire to stay there.

But now he’s on the shortest true timeline because he only signed a one-year extension with the Coliseum through 2014.

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Looming beyond that: The return-to-Los Angeles option or Davis could just open bidding to whoever is interested, though each possibility would create many of its own problems.

“I’m not using Oakland as some type of negotiating thing, and I’m not using other cities as leverage,” Davis said.

“If Oakland can get this done, I’m staying in Oakland. If we can’t and I see we can’t, then I’ll start to negotiate with other people. And if they can do it, then I’ll do it.

“I’m not at that stage yet; I’m very close to it.”

* Of this group of teams, the Warriors have the best current set-up and are the likeliest to remain relatively at peace and in place for five or even 10 more years.

First, co-owners Joe Lacob and Peter Guber have recently confirmed that they’ve had to push back their San Francisco planned opening from 2017 to 2018 at the earliest.

They’re still hoping to build on the splashy Pier 30/32 site.

But Lacob and Guber have also acknowledged that they are looking at alternative sites, including Lot A adjacent to the Giants’ AT&T Park. Of course, merely re-starting talks there would take a major thaw in Giants-Warriors relations.

The reality is that, because they’re going to miss the 2017 date, the Warriors will have to exercise their extension clause with the Coliseum to play at Oracle Arena into the 2017-2018 season.

And that probably means they’ll be at Oracle for several years after that, too.

My understanding is that Lacob and Guber are ready to pour some more money into Oracle Arena upgrades as they prepare for a minimum of four more seasons in the East Bay… and possibly all the way into the 2020s.

* A’s owners John Fisher and Lew Wolff complain the most of the Oakland teams, seem to have the fewest options, and yet have the largest annual profit, thanks to baseball’s revenue-sharing program.

They’re also the wackiest of this group.

Last week, Wolff told the Silicon Valley Business Journal that the A’s would be open the possibility of building an “interim place to play” if negotiations to extend their lease with the Coliseum go badly.

The only reasonable response to that trial balloon: Can you imagine playoff games at 15,000-seat Rinky-Dink Metro Stadium in Milpitas?

Meanwhile, I continue to hear that the A’s quest to move to San Jose is nearly without hope at this point.

The A’s are stuck, in a different way than the Warriors and Raiders are stuck.

But you look at all three and you don’t really see large reasons to believe they’re getting unstuck any time soon.

Well, at least Lacob has a winning team that can probably stomach staying in Oakland for a while. Fans will continue to go to Oracle while Myers and West keep them in the hunt. The A’s are a good team in a lousy park that is going nowhere, especially to San Jose, and Wolff is burning bridges because everybody knows he wants out of town. The Raiders stink right now so McKenzie had better get a QB so that the fan base does not chase them back to LA.. They are in the worst shape of the three residents of Oaktown.

Dirk Suave

What’s really a shame is that if all three ownerships got together they could build the coliseum city without outside funds… Lacob and Wolff get their shopping mall slash convention center with hotels and all three could have state of the art arena and stadiums. If only they believed in staying and supporting the city of Oakland. They could make the best sports venue in the United States together.

Rodrigues_Islander

Detailed critique. Excellent job of point out the flaws in Tim’s analysis.

Molecular Clock

Why don’t you get up, make a few peanut butter and banana sandwiches and pack them in your HeMan lunch box. I’m going to pick you up and take you on a trip to reality. 1. Raiders are the second worst franchise in football.
2. The Warriors are the Tim Tebow of the NBA.
3. Brad Pitt is the Athletics best asset
Let’s sum this up. Tim can’t write, Oakland has no fans or money to build facilities of a higher grade than the Roman colosseum. Portland and OKC are much more deserving of the Raiders. Seattle should take the Warriors. Tim should write a Justin Beiber blog. You should never approach me on these matters again.

Rodrigues_Islander

it’s always Kool-Aid Time in your world, isn’t it?
Not only that .. Straw Man Alert.
(1) So who’s defending the Raiders? I’ve always thought that the Raiders should either explore a stadium further east, in the 580 corridor or move to LA again.
(2) Tebow? The Warriors are probably analogous to Colin Kaepernick – seemingly with a lot of upside but ….
(3) The As .. Brad Pitt? Try again sparky.
(4) Let’s sum this up – you are no judge of talent. Kawakami is arguably the best NBA basketball writer in the Bay Area – he is not cowed by athletes or team management. He’s right more often than know-nothing fan-morons (there are a lot of those.)

Molecular Clock

Ricky Henderson is rolling over in his grave. You guys are nuts. Can I get a Tim Kawakami fan club sticker please?

Rodrigues_Islander

Ask Tim for one … that is … IF you have the courage

Mark M

Both of the stadiums in question are poor and behind the times. The Oracle is OK unless you are sitting in the upper deck, which is still pretty expensive. It’s like watching a game from the rafters up there….complete ripoff. No matter what upgrades are performed, you’re not going to correct that problem.

The Coliseum, whatever it’s named these days, is a well known sewage /viewing joke at this point. It’s really a shame as I like the location with it’s proximity to BART. If they could put up state of the art buildings in the same location, this fan would be very pleased indeed.